Read this during my gap year after high school. Took it literally. It's not that I've abandoned it. It's just a book to wrestle with, and perhaps it has suffered in my mind from my having read it at such a young age when I was really forming my first convictions. I want to say that even rejecting de Santillana and von Dechen's thesis this a very worthwhile book: it's a classic. It's also unfortunate that it has been co-opted somewhat by the Graham Hancock crowd.

That's the "praise" portion. I do think this book is one of many sensational "academic" bestsellers of its day that was marketed to popular readership but . . . isn't as convincing as it thinks it is. The subject is too large. To true to reduce all of pre-historical mythology to a catastrophic global event unsatisfactorily tied to an undefined "slip" in the precession of the equinoxes is argued by co-author de Santillana in thorny confidence that lapses into incoherence. Von Dechend is much more successful in relating story to data. De Santillana here and there presents the thesis of this book as a thought-experiment instead of the "dire warning" it elsewhere relates from our pre-writing ancestors.

I was disappointed not to see in one of the appendices that a day and time on our calendar hadn't been pinpointed, which seems to be the obligatory after what this book tries to lead you to. It's unfortunate I find myself writing a bit negatively of this book because it was brave, unique and remains more than worth reading, worth reflecting on and worth discussing with others. Again, I wish I had finished reading this book for the first time a week ago.

There is also the track traceable where this book influenced the writing of awful, sloppy books that abuse the poor Mayan Calendar, slipshod speculations by stubborn "outsiders" who cite true researchers and then call them deceptive, online schumcateers and so many other contributing disappointments who can't be contained merely within the spectrum bookended by the Amateur Brave and the Trained Lazy.

Stupid, incoherent book ...

Far beyond intriguing.

About the origin of myths, perhaps more scientifically minded than we usually think.

The life work of the authors raises some serious questions about humanity, where we've come from, and where are we going. Scientist every day are more and more open to the ideas and evidence presented throughout the book and I think it's only a matter of time until more is proven true.

This book was oh so difficult to read as it either didn’t translate well or maybe it was just written for academia, but it was AMAZING!!!!

If you love this book, I also recommend James Frazer’s The Golden Bough, and Robert Graves’ The White Goddess.

One of my favorite writers, each work is masterful.

To be honest, I've been reading this book for a few years. It is fascinating but complex. de Santillana digs deep and I have to stop to do research/ read up on what he's talking about.
I'm going to keep on reading though!

I'm currently reading it, so I can't write an educated review. However, Graham Hancock has recommended this book over and over again. Thus, reading it is a must.

Great essay and information!

Luego de leer la impresionante cantidad de información entregada por los autores, me quedo con su hipótesis central a saber "El mito nace de la ciencia; sólo la ciencia lo explica".

A very deep intellectual book. Must be read more than once in order to grasp the technical aspects.